LED Dimmable Lights: Important Things you should know
Amidst the rising sustainability concerns, lighting has undergone a lot of modifications over the period of time. It has not only become more efficient but also been subject to various technological advancements. For instance, the leading LED lighting manufacturers are now making use of innovative technologies like Internet of Things (IoT) to power smart lighting solutions. In addition, the availability of dimmable lights and smart lighting controls such as occupancy sensors and dimmers have further made lighting more comfortable and convenient for the people.
LED dimmable lights
As the name suggests, LED dimmable lights are smart lighting devices that are integrated with dimming capabilities. They are highly convenient and primarily assist in creating great mood lighting. Here are a few important things you should know about LED dimmable lights:
How dimmable LED lights work?
LED luminaires are primarily powered with dimming capabilities in two ways, i.e. Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) and analogue. In case of PWM, the LED luminaires don’t rely on voltage for dictating their brightness levels, rather they rely on the "On & Off" cycle. These cycles typically operate in milliseconds which makes it virtually impossible for anyone to notice the process. In the analogue case, the process is more straightforward as it modulates the current for diming or brightening up the lights.
Why dimmable LED lights flicker?
The flickering of dimmable LED lights is mostly associated with the functioning of dimmer switches. All dimmer switches are leveraged with minimum load requirements (i.e. the minimum amount of watts they need to function) in order to keep the switching elements close and prevent unpredictable behaviour. In case the minimum requirement is not met, dimmer switches may act adversely, eventually leading to flickering, reduced dimming range, or malfunctioning. This can not only hamper the working environment but also affect an employee’s health and productivity adversely.
In case of an LED lighting solution, the minimum load requirements of a typical dimmer switch are met by increasing the number of LED luminaires (as they operate on low wattage) in a space. However, dimmers (especially) designed for LEDs have low load requirements.